Calm Wanderer
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(AKJ) Chapter 110 - Bryn's impending Tribulation
🕑 Added 2025-04-23 10:26:39 +0000 UTCBright Star City, Bright Star Island, Flowing Stars Archipelago, Earth
Demian's P.O.V.
After Demian successfully condensed his peculiar Minor Water Cycle Intent, his self-inflicted pressure lightened considerably, as if some heavy shackles binding him broke, giving rise to an exhilarating feeling of freedom. ‘I even reached the so-called Soul Great River State and Energy Flood State, those two Tier 1 Extreme States in Soul and Energy Cultivation... No wonder my body experienced so much change...’ He contemplated in delight. His already good mood was further enhanced when his eyes fluttered open and the first ‘thing’ in his sight was the smiling face of his beautiful lover, her mysterious grey ‘eyes’ hiding nothing from the happiness she felt while her attention was directed at his own grinning face. Cocking his brow, he asked. “Like what you see?” His question brought a few melodious giggles before she answered in a warm tone. “I always do.” Before adding playfully. “You do smell a bit, though.” Her statement immediately brought to his attention the strong smell emitted from all over his body, a result of those impurities his body had previously removed. With a quick thought, a thin curtain of water briefly appeared all over his body, gathering all the grime present and, in less than the blink of an eye, turned it into dust, leaving his body sparkling clean. ‘With how much my body improved, I’m surprised there weren’t more impurities... Is it because of my Perk?’ He thought briefly before a teasing smile surfaced on his face, and he questioned. “Better?” Nodding emphatically, she retorted. “Much better!” A moment later, she asked, her gaze slightly absent-minded. “By the way, is it me or you’re even handsomer than before?” Feeling amused, he retorted. “Is handsomer even a word?” To which she responded doubtfully. “Maybe?” A brief moment later, she shook her head and said. “But that’s not important! Your whole Aura has changed, so I guess it’s a success?” Feeling amused, he gently mobilized his new Intent. First, the Rain Aspect condensed a sufficient number of water droplets from the atmosphere to cover her body from the middle of her stomach to the middle of her thighs. Then, the Weight Aspect densified them enough that those normal droplets formed a surface as solid as iron. Finally, the Tide Aspect made her float from her previously seated position in front of him to right between his crossed legs, with her back turned against him. It was so gentle and effortless that even Demian felt momentarily surprised, let alone the young woman who was not only the ‘beneficiary’ but also whose eyesight was pretty special. Speechless for a few seconds, she muttered. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Chuckling briefly, he explained. “I just succeeded in condensing my Intent. The thing is, it didn’t exactly go as planned.” While rubbing her back against his chest to find a better sitting position, she questioned, a wave of curiosity emitting from the Bond. “What do you mean?” Thinking for a moment, he replied. “Instead of condensing three Intents, one in each Core, I actually condensed a kind of combination of four Intent Seeds. And that’s not the strangest thing...” With a contented sigh, the young woman finally found the perfect position, with the back of her head set on his right pectoral muscle while her silky, dark purple hair ended up accidentally caressing his right cheek, making his Heart a bit itchy. “Tell me more...” She questioned in a languid voice. ‘Succubus!’ He thought briefly as his arms embraced her naked waist, her skin a fantastical blend of softness hiding robust muscles underneath. Wearing only a pair of dark purple shorts barely covering her fleshy behind and a sports bra, which, due to the size of her chest, was showing more than it hid, the dark skinned elven woman was a picture of inhuman perfection, something unreachable for any Mortal woman out there. Despite the beautifying effect that one received when breaking through to a higher Rank, he could tell that the level of beauty she had reached was unattainable for most Tier 2 women out there, evidenced by those Foundation Building Maids he had met since he arrived in the Mansion. Not that they were anything but beautiful, but compared to his older lover, they were in a different league entirely. As for Tier 3? Well, he only met Feng Ling, and she was hardly a good example, with her being on the verge of reaching the Void Seed Rank (Tier 4). He was also aware that she actively restrained her Aura, not only the ‘pressure’ aspect, but also the ‘presence’ aspect. The latter had to do with abstract concepts such as ‘charm’, ‘kindness’, ‘killing intent’, etc. It was part State of Mind and part sum of all the different energies traversing one’s Body. The higher one’s Cultivation was, the more one’s presence defined beauty, since at a certain point, physical beauty reached an extreme with not much to improve. At least, that was what he surmised from his observations and ‘readings’ since he arrived in the Flowing Stars Archipelago.
Back to the situation at hand, Demian continued. “My body has undergone major changes. Not only did my Upper Channels form a kind of Cycle, but my Heaven, Mortal, and Earth Channels did the same. The latter I can understand since my Minor Water Cycle Intent Seed settled in those three. But the former, I don’t really understand.” As those last words left his lips, something surfaced in his Mind, prompting him to add. “Also, my Soul Power has become even purer. The thing is, it was already at Flawless Purity beforehand...” His statement plunged her into a thoughtful silence. While she was pondering his situation, the young man’s breath turned deep, all his senses focused on enjoying the moment, whether it was the weight of her body on his chest, the light breeze caressing the leaves in the few imposing trees planted in their private garden, or the chirping birds perched in these same trees. However, what felt most clear in his Senses was the distributary of the Serene River flowing gently through the garden, its sound akin to the most beautiful music in his ears. ‘Water is truly magical...’ He thought with a wave of amazement washing over his Heart. Indeed, as soon as the Intent Seed condensed inside his Body, his Senses not only magnified immensely, but he was also now able to perceive those things previously hidden from his Senses, akin to a veil being lifted before his eyes, leaving the world displayed in front of his eyes. If before, he was only looking from the outside, barely understanding simple functions, he could now easily dig deeper, developing his comprehension of Water, or more specifically, of the Water Law. Naturally, Intents, especially First-Grade Intents, were merely surface-level Principles comprising Elemental Laws. They are important, but comprehending an entire Law is much more difficult than comprehending an Intent of said Law. Speaking of which...
As an idea started to appear in his Mind, Seraphine's soft voice pulled him away from his contemplation. “I checked your body with my Soul Sense, and I can only tell that it’s a positive change. The... Cycles, you called them? Well, they feel natural. Not like a mutation or an accident, but something that is ‘as it should be’... If that makes any sense.” Nodding his head, he replied. “That’s what I felt too, but it’s always good to have another opinion on something that can influence my Cultivation Path.” To which she commented. “I get it. As for what you said about your Intents merging, I have some related Bloodline memories. They’re a bit vague, though.” Rubbing his cheek against her smooth hair, he said softly. “Any information is better than none.” Smiling at his reply, she explained. “Your situation is relatively rare. You can think of it as a Pseudo-Law Condensing. It’s beyond normal single Intents, but well below comprehending a full Law. The short-term benefit is the increase in strength and mastery over Water Elemental Energy. The long-term one is a greater ease when it comes to comprehending the Full Law of Water. Greater ease is relative, though.” Pausing for a brief moment, she ended with. “That’s basically all I know... To be honest, I haven’t even condensed any Intent, so I can’t tell you more.”
Her explanation confirmed his guess, prompting him to reply gently. “It’s enough, Love. The rest, I’ll find out as Time passes...” Pausing his words for a moment, he took a whiff of her body’s fragrant scent, a light smell difficult to articulate into words, since no living or non-living ‘thing’ seemed to emit such a peculiar odor. The scent was peculiar because it evoked warmth, purity, playfulness, etc. It was not overpowering, merely present if you paid enough attention and she ‘stood’ close enough, two criteria regularly met when it came to Demian for obvious reasons. It was a scent unique to her, representing who she was, something that suited her perfectly, and that Demian loved inhaling on a daily basis. ‘I don’t know why, but every time I smell her, I feel so relaxed. Although having her in my arms and sensing her through the Bond does play a part as well...’ He thought briefly before continuing out loud. “Speaking of which, how close to condensing your Void Shadow Intent are you right now? With the Ring’s use, you shouldn’t be too far, right?” Nodding her head, she replied. “I should be done in a few days at most. It should have been faster, but Dark Intents are already harder to comprehend than normal Elemental intents, let alone with traces of Void added to it...” The slight frustration was apparent in her voice. However, it did not last long since she added, this time in a much more cheerful tone mixed with some amazement. “To be honest, even with my Bloodline boosting my Comprehension, especially when it comes to the Dark Elemental Law and Void Law, there’s no way I would’ve made so much progress in so little time. That... ‘Ring’... Is so... So incredible! And that’s with the efficiency halved compared to you... Honestly, I don’t know if I should be jealous of you for being a Cultivation cheater, or if I should be happy that I can access a part of your cheat...”
Chuckling at her statement, he recalled her reaction after she woke up from her sex-induced coma and found out she had access to the Chaos Soul Ring’s Incarnation Feature through the Bond, although with merely half the efficiency, which was a similar situation to his Physiology Perk. Shaking his head gently, he retorted. “I’d rather you choose the latter than the former. Having my own woman being jealous of me is not something I’d enjoy very much.” Halting his words for a brief moment, he then added. “Plus, we each have our own advantages. Even if my Water Law is very versatile, it can also be considered as a Jack of all trades, master of none. Your Dark Law, though, may be a bit less versatile, but its strengths are higher than my Water Law.” Smiling at his statement, she replied with amusement lacing her voice. “Actually, the full phrase is ‘A jack of all trades is a master of none, but oftentimes better than a master of one’. Objectively, there aren’t many situations that you can’t deal with. Dark Law is a bit different.” With his growing understanding of Water Law, he understood how accurate her statement was. After all, was there a situation where Water Elemental Energy was not present? Even in the harshest of deserts, oases existed, in the most blazing volcano, steam appeared from the harsh temperature... Water was omnipresent in some form or another, something that could not be said for other Elements. At least, not to the same proportion and with such ease when switching from one state to the other. It was truly a case of ‘Water could be suppressed but not extinguished’. That being said, it did not mean that Water trumped every other Element. Each has its own strength, especially those special Elements such as Dark, Light, Thunder-Lightning, and Wind. Any of them can theoretically be much stronger in their specialty. Although in practice, it depends massively on Cultivators’ Mastery of their own Element(s). In other words, there is no such thing as a weak Element, there are only weak Cultivators.
Before he could correct her statement, she commented. “Don’t worry, I’m not saying I’m weak or anything. I’m plenty aware of the Dark Element’s power, especially with the Void Element added to it.” He was also aware of it from having sparred with her many times. To be fair, he never lost against her, but it was mostly because he could sense her through the Bond, which completely negated one of her fundamental advantages. Of course, she also had access to his Perk, meaning her Stamina could crush anyone at her Level. Thus, despite Demian’s raw strength being slightly superior thanks to his Perk’s constant refinement, he was also never able to truly defeat her. Since it was not a competition, none of them really cared, though, instead focusing on improving their fighting experience, even going a bit further than normal training spars thanks to the fantastical healing effect of his Perk. Even serious injuries for normal Cultivators could be healed incredibly quickly: from a few seconds for flesh injuries to a few hours for serious Bone injuries. And that was without the use of Healing Pills. If used, what would take hours actually took mere minutes, or even seconds, depending on the gravity of the wounds and the potency of the Pill used. As a comparison, a normal Cultivator at the Peak Chi Gathering Rank would take days with the right Healing Pills to heal crushed bones, but Demian could heal it in at most a few minutes with the same Pills. At this point, it was not a matter of having a slight edge over one’s enemy but simply a crushing superiority. At least, that was so as long as the two did not face someone whose power crushed them in return. After all, Troll-like regeneration only worked if one was still alive. Being one-hit killed, however, was the perfect counter for that particular advantage.
While thinking random things, the two discussed their respective progress, exchanging on their respective understandings about Elemental Laws in the hope of catching some inspiration by analogy, something that had happened a few times. Even if their Law Comprehension did not grow, when sharing the way they manipulated their respective Energy, many interesting ideas were born, propelling them along their Cultivation Path. It was truly a matter of ‘Going alone made one go quickly, but going together made one go farther’. Although in this case, it was more a case of ‘going together made them go both faster and farther’, owing to their growing Comprehension Talent. ‘Being a cheater is so satisfying! No wonder those main characters were so arrogant. It’s really hard to stay humble once you know there’s no cap on how high your strength can reach.’ He thought while chatting softly with Seraphine. It lasted for a while before their Senses caught the presence of Adeliya standing behind their bedroom door, about to knock on it. In Demian’s Soul Sense, he could ‘see’ her charming face filled with a mix of worry and anticipation, a situation that aroused the young man’s curiosity. Interested, he sent his voice to the older woman’s ears through his Elemental Energy mixed with his new Intent. [”What’s got you so worked up, Love?”] Since the day she accepted his advance, Demian, although never going further than kissing, had started to be more proactive. ‘It feels a bit weird calling her that way, but her reactions are always 100% worth it!’ He pondered inwardly as his Senses caught the growing blush appearing on her face, for a brief moment washing away all the traces of concern she previously harbored, leaving only adorable bashfulness behind.
Whether the news was too important or she was growing more thick-skinned after being called that way a few times, she almost instantly recovered her calm, faked a cough, and instructed while facing the closed door. “The two of you need to come with me. Bryn decided to face her Tribulation today and wants you to watch it to get some experience before going through your own.” Her statement only brought a slight surprise to Demain and Seraphine. After all, the four Mikhailovs often communicated with each other at dinner, and even trained together from time to time to help each other gain some fighting experience with different opponents. Thus, they were all clear on each other’s situation and knew that the golden-skinned woman was about done with her preparation. Demian’s educated guess was two days at most and today at best. So, the news fit his expectations. [”We’re coming.”] He sent back before he gave a gentle kiss on Sera’s smooth temple and said. “Let’s go see your sister passing her Tribulation with flying colors.” Not waiting for her response, he mobilized his Intent with a thought, and both of their bodies disappeared from their location in the middle of the garden and reappeared in front of the door in a brief instant, giving none of the usual sensation of high-speed movements. Clicking her tongue, Seraphine commented. “Intent is really good stuff.” Chuckling, he replied. “It’s just high-speed movement. Nowhere near the teleportation technique you can use with Void Energy.” Shaking her head, she replied. “Teleportation uses so much Energy, it’s not even funny. Plus, you can basically fly now. And that’s without expanding much Energy at all. It’s not something I can do even with my Shadow Energy.” With an amused grin, he retorted. “Yet.” Freezing for a brief second, she then nodded and said. “True. Once I’ve condensed my own Intent, I’ll also be able to do the same.”
Nodding his head, he simply let out a grunt of approval as he thought about the requirements needed to fly independently. From the information he gathered, only by reaching the Late Foundation Building Rank with the corresponding Inner Energy Quantity and Purity could one glide in the sky unaided. It was not true flight since Elemental Energy alone was too unstable to stably propel one in the air for a long time. There may be exceptions, such as those cultivating Wind Elemental Energy, but even they were relatively limited in what they could do. Only through condensing a First-Grade Intent, using the light to lift the heavy, could one engage in flying over long distances without greatly exhausting one’s Energy. As for Demian and Seraphine’s respective Energy, not only had they each attained a state similar to the Liquid Inner Energy that only Foundation Building Cultivators possess merely by condensing the Elemental Energy stored in their lower Core, but the quantity and Purity of their Energy is much greater than average High Foundation Building Cultivators. It was one of the reasons why their raw strength was so high despite their relatively low Cultivation Base. ‘Being able to fly with only Peak Tier 1 Cultivation is pretty cool. I wonder if there are many ‘geniuses’ who can do the same.’ He pondered while using a brief thought to clean himself again along with Sera through a simple Water Manipulation before grinding the resulting grime to oblivion.
Another thought, and his pair of shorts, which was the only piece of clothing he was wearing besides a pair of underwear, was switched for a complete outfit, one of the few Peak Tier 2 ones his teacher had gifted to him the day they had arrived at the Serene Mansion. After all, they would have to leave the Mansion and could not exactly wear sports clothes. Not unless they did not care about his teacher and his wife’s reputation. Even if one discounted their ‘face’, he would definitely have to go out and meet other people at some point, even those higher-ups, so becoming used to wearing nice clothes seemed like a good idea. First impressions were important, after all. Looking toward Seraphine, he asked, curious. “How do I look?”
